Barcelona loanee Jean-Clair Todibo shared about his spell at Camp Nou and the way star forward Lionel Messi was treated in training sessions.
The Frenchman was deprived of opportunities to play for the Catalan giants and featured only in 5 La Liga games since his arrival in the winter of 2019. With the presence of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet, the youngster could not prove himself.
As a result of that, he was sent on loan to Bundesliga side Schalke 04 earlier this month and is expecting to make his debut soon, in Germany.
However, in an interview with German newspaper Bild, Todibo spoke about his time in Barcelona and was overwhelmed to share the dressing room with some of the stars, especially Messi.
The most curious part was that he spoke of how the Argentine playmaker was treated. The defender confessed that Messi had to be treated differently in training, saying:
“Everyone in the team was very clear that Messi could not be injured and that’s why they were very careful to not hurt him”.
Although, he was excited at the fact that he was able to recover some balls from the Ballon d’Or winner in training sessions on a few occasions. He said:
“I stole some balls, but very carefully so as to not hurt him. I learned a lot from him”.
And now, in the Bundesliga, the 20-year-old must make use of the chances he gets to play and will have to use all the experience and knowledge gained at Barcelona to become the best version of himself.
Meanwhile, Messi and his side are still going strong in all competitions as they look to get their hands on several possible trophies this season.
The 32-year-old has scored 17 goals this season and will need to be at his best in the latter stages.